Pumpkin Carving with Preppy Puppy

On Friday I chaperoned mini #2's kindergarten field trip to the pumpkin patch. It's my favorite field trip because 1) this is my most favorite time of year and 2) it's the field trip where you get to spend the most amount of time with your child (and let's face it, if I'm going to ride the bus all the way to the pumpkin patch w/ a bunch of kindergartner's, I'd damn well better get to spend some quality time with my kid when I get off that bus). We always go to the pumpkin patch as a family so we will definitely be heading back in the next week or two, but it did get me motivated to start digging around online for some great pumpkin carving ideas for this year.

If you've been hanging around here since the conception of Monogram Momma's, you will likely remember these pumpkins (scroll down to the bottom to see mine). To date, they are still my favorite. However, this year I will be carving my pumpkin in the likeness of preppy puppy. Can you even stand it?!?!?!

Want to do your own?
Grab your free pumpkin carving stencil of your favorite breed here.

source & photo: BGH

Leaf Garland

Last week I made a great bunting out of felt for our Auburn tailgating. It turned out so cute, that I decided to do a Fall/Halloween one. I'll get to that later though, because while I was browsing my Google Reader, one of my favorite blogs had a similar project for a leaf garland that I thought many of you would like because it is done in paper, not felt.

You Will Need
-a real leaf from outside or faux leaf
-long strip of brown paper (or wrapping paper would work, too)
-pencil
-scissors

Directions
1) cut a long strip of paper the same width, then fold it accordion style until you end up with a 3x3 inch square.

2) arrange the leaf so that part of the leaf extends just slightly beyond the borders of the paper on two opposite folded sides (this is what will make it stay together as one long chain, like paper dolls).
3) Trace the leaf then cut. Be careful not to cut through the fold (see arrows). She angled her leaf slightly rather than tracing it straight up and down and I personally think it looks cuter that way.

4) Pull apart your leaves and VOILA! You've made your fall leaf paper garland!

source & photos: Hope Studios

Nautical Inspiration

Both of my boys are beach boys, and both love the ocean. My husband grew up on the water, sailing since he was a young child so Mini #2 has always been fascinated by this. Therefore, it was only fitting that when the time came to change his nursery into a "big boy" room, that I used a nautical theme. Again, there is a lot of tacky nautical stuff out there, and I prefer a more mature space for my children in their rooms.

The madras bedding is from the adult Pottery Barn catalog, and it is paired with a gorgeous hand-painted colorful fish pillow which matches perfectly. I've posted on the window treatment in his room before, which is a basic white roman shade which I added the green grosgrain trim to, a thick black-out liner, and his monogram. The bed skirt (again, something I've posted on in the past) is a white box-pleated skirt which I sewed on the green grosgrain ribbon to match his window treatment. On the wall next to his bed, I bought two oars, sanded and stained them, then we cut out a notch on one to attach them in an "x." I then personalized the oars where one says "S.S. Mini #2" and the other one says "Gaeta, Italy" (where our family is from). Like in mini #1's room, I love the artwork I bought and had framed for his room. They are sepia portraits of sails and masts of sailboats and pulley's and ropes. They are so dramatic and in thick chunky frames and something he will be able to keep and use forever.

Other small details around his room are wooden sailboats, a pretty silver sailboat and a huge and very heavy green ships bell that says "Captains Bell" on it (Mr. Monogram has taken to calling this the "bedtime bell" though and often rings it in the evening to round up the troops for bed, which the love because it has such a loud and deep ring). I also have little nautical stars around his room, a starfish here and there, and over his dresser, a huge portrait I took of Mini #2 watching the ocean when he was younger that I had done in a painting (Mini #1 also has a large portrait like this hanging in his room over his dresser as well, since it's at our beach and very special to both of them).

Mini #2's nautical inspired room.
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Closer look at his artwork
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P.S. I forgot to mention this, but Mini #1's room is painted in a very soft blue, and mini #2's nautical room is painted in a soft, pale green with a double chair rail.

All Aboard

It's been a while since I've done a decorating post around here, so it's probably long overdue. I know at one point I promised my dear friend Third Coast Preppy I would post pictures of my boys bedrooms to help give her some ideas for her own boys rooms, and I aim to please. Today we'll start with mini #1's room.

When mini #1 was 15 months old he became obsessed with trains. So naturally, when it came time to give him his "big boy room," I knew I had to do trains, but a lot of train theme is so over the top tacky and monogram momma just doesn't do tacky. I wanted a more mature room that didn't scream TRAINS, and that would continue to grow with him, and to accomplish this, I bought adult bedding from Pottery Barn, had his shams monogrammed (of course I did), had gorgeous train paintings framed, and then bought vintage tin trains on ebay. My dad helped me mount them on wooden boards so I could hang them on the wall and they are very cool. The drapes I did myself and the fringe is the perfect shades of greens and blues which match his bedding perfectly. His favorite part of his room? The authentic railroad crossing sign I hung over his bed. It is very heavy and big so Mr. Monogram wasn't exactly thrilled to have the task of securing that piece over his son's head. ;-)

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closer look at the artwork. I love these.
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Needlepoint Pillows

This week I've been busy working on new graphics for The Monogram Marketplace. I'll show you a preview of those tomorrow, but in the meantime I promised to show you the new pillows I did for the family room.

The new pillows incorporated both needlepoint and conventional sewing with some very pretty trims that really brighten up the family room. I'm so pleased with them I can't even tell you. My pillow inserts are nice and full of down so the sofa is extra comfy and cushy when you sit down.

The new fabric is gorgeous and goes perfectly with my floor to ceiling gold and red silk drapes.

Here's the needlepoint insert I did. I needlepointed 2 identical "M"'s. I then sewed the needlepoint directly onto the pillow, then covered the edges with gold trim.

Then I made a longer, coordinating pillow for the center of the sofa with a really pretty apple green fabric, my main floral fabric from the needlepoint pillows, and added two vertical pieces of flat gold and green trim.

It's a bad picture, but here's the sofa with the new pillows. A lovely addition!

Mad for Plaid

I can't remember if I've mentioned it or not, but I'm typically not a big fan of wallpaper. Something about it screams 1983 to me and paint is just much more classic and easier to change. And if any of you have ever had to remove wallpaper, you know exactly what I'm talking about. However, I seem to be seeing it more and more in the pages of Southern Living, Coastal Living and even the home design and furniture catalogs I receive as of late.

Admittedly,I do have my downstairs powder room covered in a formal Ralph Lauren paper that I love, and overall, I guess I'm not totally opposed to it in a bathroom. So I stumbled upon a few fresh and fun plaids in a magazine a couple months and I just had to share them in case any of you were thinking about a light and summery bathroom or beach cottage.

From Blonderhome

This Post is Brought to You by the Letter "M"

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. Things were hectic and fun at the Monogram household, but also quite sad with the absence of preppy puppy. The boys received so many things that we still haven’t even taken them all out of their boxes, and I must admit that I am quite tired of putting together little Playmobil pirates, knites, skateboarders, and all their homes and methods of transportation that ensues. Ugh. While it’s the coolest stuff on the planet for kids to play with, each set comes with a zillion tiny little pieces that are a quarter of the size of your pinky fingernail. NO LIE. And while I’m admitting things here today, I have to admit the Wii has sucked away more hours from my days lately than anything else. This thing is seriously addictive and I’m pretty certain I’m developing carpal tunnel from trying to qualify in the Cars: Mater-National tournament. Good news is though I've found a great new exercise routine with it so stay tuned.

Before Christmas, I was able to work on lots of great projects around here, but unfortunately had to take my little absence what with everything going on with preppy puppy. But one project I did doesn’t have to just be a Holiday project. I think it could be an all year décor staple in your home, so that’s what I want to share with you today.

As I’ve mentioned many times, I always have the hardest time with my mantle décor. And two years ago while walking around JoAnn’s I found a huge paper mache letter “M." I had no idea what to do with it, but I picked it up anyway and it’s sat in my garage for the past two years sort of mocking me every time I looked over at it. I decided this was the year I made something out of that letter “M.” Remembering I had all that left over moss from the cancelled Derby Party, I decided to cover it to make an elegant but earthy additional to my Holiday mantle.

You Will Need
-large paper mache letter (got mine from JoAnn’s Craft Store)
-small bottle acrylic paint (a similar color to your moss)
-LOTS and LOTS of moss (I ended up using 3 different types of moss)
-glue gun and LOTS of glue
-Ribbon if you chose to hang the final product

Step 1

Paint your letter so the background will blend in with your material in case you miss some coverage.

Step 2

Start gluing! As I said, I used 2 types of moss (reindeer, Spanish, and something else that was big and clumpy and dirty). I kept alternating between the different types of moss I’d glue on, using the Spanish moss as my filler to fill in the empty spots. NOTE: I recommend having a wooden skewer or craft (Popsicle) stick on hand to help press the Spanish moss down into the glue really well so you don’t burn your fingers. The Spanish moss is very fine and loose, so you’ll need to ball it up before adhering it to your letter.

Step 3
If you want to hang your letter, make sure you do what I DIDN’T do, and make sure your ribbon for hanging is of adequate length. I ended up cutting mine too short and as a result, was unable to hang it as I envisioned, but rather place it on top of the mantle. I still think the final result looked great though, so it’s totally up to you.

I have to warn you that this project has a high mess factor to it. But if you don’t like the messy moss idea, then you can always use whatever other materials you like to cover your letter. A few other things to try would be fabric, dried flowers, faux berries, small Christmas balls, any type of greenery, or even just ribbon. Originally, I was planning on covering it completely with ribbon, but decided I wanted a more three dimensional look to my project. In the end, I think I could leave it up year round (although I don’t think I will), just as I think you could too.

Stick it on the Mantle

When I decided to overhaul my holiday mantle this year, I also wanted to change the top of the mantle. I made two changes or additions, one of which I’ll show you now. It was a great simple project that looks really beautiful in person.

Walking around Michaels, I found these bunches of gold sticks in the floral area. They were pretty, only I didn’t know what to do with them. I like something tall on each side of my mantle and thought these would make a great starting place. But next I needed a decorative container to put them in. So I found a great shaped container, but the exterior finish on it was too informal and casual for my taste, so I decided I could use the same wide, olive/bronze taffeta ribbon I used for the ribbon garland to change the exterior of these containers. Here’s how it went…

You Will Need
-container of desired shape and size (remember that you need to take the height of your container into consideration when doing a project where the end result will be tall)
-green floral foam block (In my case, I needed one block and sliced it in half)
-gold or white bundled sticks from floral department (Michaels also had some really beautiful white ones that I’m considering picking up for next year)
-spanish moss (floral department of your craft store)
-10 yards of ribbon
-glue gun

Step 1

The first thing I did was cut my foam block in half and stick it into my container. I then used one bunch of sticks for each container, and stuck them in where I wanted them. I should note, though, that I did have to trim the sticks because their original height plus the container would have made them much too tall for my mantle.

Step 2

Once that was done, I glued clumps of Spanish moss to the floral foam to hide it, and make the container look nice and full.

Step 3

My final step was gluing on the ribbon (sorry, no picture of that step!). All I did was start in the back of the container and glue one end of my ribbon, and just kept wrapping (overlapping edges to give it a pleated look) it around, securing it with glue here and there. I love the ribbon wrapped result so much, and it matches the ribbon garland perfectly. And with one flanking each side of the mantle, it really helps complete my ribbon look this year.

The Three Sheet Rule

This might come as a shock given that Fall is my favorite season of the year, but I never used to like Thanksgiving. It was always just so boring to me, and Mr. Monogram as well. Turkey, stuffing, cranberries, blah, blah, blah. Of course, that was until we moved away and my family started coming here to spend Thanksgiving with us. Everyone (except sister #1 that is, who is here in spirit since she and her family live in Southern CA) comes on Wednesday night, dogs and all, and we pile in and have 3 nights and 2 days of food, fun, food, and games (did I say food?). The kids have such a great time with each other too, and even the canines become a bit frisky running around in the backyard in the cold weather, vying for the ball.

So today and tomorrow I’m looking ever so fashionable in my yoga pants and long sleeved layered tees as I tidy up, put away, and clean up to prepare for my guests. And in that tidying up, I of course will be changing sheets and making beds. I really try to make my guest room as comfy and cozy as possible. I love using a light lavender water/linen spray to really make the sheets smell extra fresh and clean, and in a basket on the table at the foot of the bed I keep extra sets of fluffy towels, and plenty of new shampoo, conditioner, body, hand, and foot lotions, body wash, powder, ibuprofen, etc. I even keep plenty of baby products in the basket too, for our guests who travel with small children. But to me, the most important part of preparing for guests, is the process of making the bed.

It used to be that traveling meant having to sacrifice your comfort when sleeping. But these days, whether you're lodging in a budget friendly establishment or 5 Star Hotel everyone seems to be stepping it up to make it a little easier for us to catch some good z's. So why not jump on the bandwagon and make your guest bed a little more inviting as well? Well I thought you might agree with me so I wanted to pass along the secret to how our favorite hotels make such a divine bed, and the secret is in the sheets. I learned this little fact from Southern Living that the luxury hotels all live by the triple sheet rule. One sheet is spread over the feathertop mattress, then the other two sheets sandwich a nice, thin down filled blanket (or down alternative for those of you with allergies). Place a heavier down duvet on top of all that and you've got yourself a 5 Star guest bed.

Sams Club for Inspiration (Creating a Tiered Planter)

Is it all men who have zero patience in discount clubs (i.e. Sams Club or Costco) or is it just Mr. Monogram? We don’t go very often now that both boys are potty trained (once upon a time having two in diapers and wipes forced us to know the greeters by name and the receipt checkers birthdays we were there so often) but to my delight, I was able to work in a visit to Sams Club on Saturday for a few essentials (trash bags, toilet paper, that 50 pound box of Cheerios that will probably only last us 2 weeks). And like most women I know, I really like to walk the aisles and see all the *stuff* they have there. But Mr. Monogram? Not so delighted.

Where else on earth but Sams or Costco can you buy a six pack of deodorant, a pressure washer, mattress and box spring combo, a 6 lb wheel of brie that could double for a tire on a compact car and a jumbo pack of diapers all under one roof (oh, and don’t forget the hot dog or $1 slice of pizza on your way out too)? Its genius I tell you, pure genius. So anyway, as we’re strolling the aisles I’m commenting on all the great deals...

ME: ooh! Look at the water trampoline!

ME: OMG, that is a great price on that 5 gallon jar of pickles!...

ME: Holy Cow! I was really thinking just the other day that we needed to buy a vending machine! (or just fill in the blank with anything useless you don’t need but always convince yourself you DO need once you see it at Sams or Costco)

But then I do come across something really cool in the outdoor entertaining/patio aisles on Sams. This lovely three tiered planter. In fact, it really is perfect for our newly expanded back deck, but Mr. Monogram just kept on walking, rolling his eyes all the while imagining me making him move this thing all over the deck to find it’s perfect spot (fully planted and about 400 lbs no less).

So that got me thinking. Why can’t I try to do this myself? I actually had unused pots in the garage that I could experiment with and if it looks alright, then I’ll just go buy some more decorative pots. And Lord knows Mr. Monogram would love for me to get some of my extra things out of the garage. So what have I got to lose?

You Will Need

-2 pots of different sizes (I already had one that was really large, about 24” in diameter, and then another one that was about 2 sizes smaller)

-Spray paint if necessary (my pots were the terracotta color and I didn’t like the color)

-potting soil

-flowers and plants (whatever you like, I prefer some that are cascading like Ivy to throw in there too)

Instructions

1) If you don’t like the color of your pots (for instance, if you bought a couple that had a great shape to them but not color), you first want to spray paint them.

2) Once the spray paint has dried, fill the largest pot (the bottom pot) with potting soil. Pack it down pretty good so it’s nice and firm.

3) Plant your flowers around the perimeter of the large pot you just filled, leaving the center completely empty of flowers.

4) Take the next pot (the smaller one) and place it in the center of the larger pot. Once it’s centered, fill it with potting soil.

5) You can do as I did and stick a dwarf tree in the center of the smaller pot, or just fill it with flowers.

A few Notes My absolute favorite annual that I love to use and mix with other plants and flowers, is Portulaca. It is a very forgiving plant, and flowers all summer long where I live (April- September), and is so beautiful as it gets really full and spills out over the pots. What’s really neat about this plant is that the flowers are abundant and open up during the day, but close again in the evening. Other plants that I like to use are sweet potato vines (this is really good for those of you in the South), Creeping Jenny, any member of the Ivy family (I like to mix my ivy’s in my pots).

Basically, any plant or flower that you like, can be mixed together, provided they all require the same general amount of sun. Clearly my pots look a little sparse here, but given time, lots of water and sun and they’ll be overflowing in no time! And now that I know what this looks like, I think I’m going to head out to my garden center to pick up some prettier pots, and plan a day of planting today.

P.S. If you don't have a yard but still like the idea of this tiered look, then remember you can always use smaller pots and indoor plants to create a summery look indoors.

Organizing Your Home Office

In my quest to become everything that is Martha and enjoy all the “good things” in life, I have realized that in order to do that, I must be organized. After all, Martha is nothing if not organized. And quite honestly, there are lots of areas in my life that are perfectly organized. The mini monograms closets and drawers, their rooms, their toys, which I will touch on later, my photography, my dishes and china, my pantry, and even my Christmas ornaments. However, other areas that would get a “needs improvement” mark by them on a report card, would be my closet, our 3-car garage which we can currently only fit 1 car into (but truly since it’s my car so that one doesn’t really affect me all that much), and my projects (to be truthful, I would probably get a “deficiency” in those areas, but unless you attended my prep school, you’re not likely to know what that is). You would think I would be super organized with as many projects that I tend to take on so skimming the aisles at Target by myself on Friday night (this actually, was a treat for me believe it or not), I came upon the most adorable, must-have striped little 3 ring binder in the back to school section. And don’t act surprised that I was in the school supply section because if you know me, and you certainly should by now, you know that I love stationary and all things paper in general so I just HAD to check it out. So anyhow, back to the binder. It just sort of leapt into my cart and gave me the idea to use it as my project folder to keep my projects ideas organized. You see, when I see something on a show that I love and want to do, I write it down or go to the show’s website and print up the project. Or, if it’s in a magazine, I rip it out. It doesn’t even have to be a project, but even just a picture of things I deem as good things. But I’ll admit, I’ve got ripped pages stuck in books all over my computer area and it’s really a creativity crusher as far as I’m concerned. But again, I digress (I told you my ADD can be annoying). So after getting this adorable binder, I hopped on over the Office Max and also picked up some sheet protectors and the rest of my Friday night was spent organizing my project folder. It has surely given me a renewed burst of creativity and I found all these fantastic projects and ideas that I can’t wait to pass along!.

So I thought to myself, “while I’m at it, I might as well organize my dream house folder.” This is a folder that’s crammed with sketches and ripped out pages and ideas that I want to include in our next house. Moldings, doors, windows, cabinet finishes and kitchen layouts. And also inside my Dream House folder, I have a sketch of my “dream room.” It’s my sewing/crafting/wrapping room and in my dream world, Martha herself would even come help me design this room. And while I’m at it, let’s throw in an embroidery machine in there too. This little number should suit my needs just fine, thank you. Oh, and don’t forget the “NO MINI’S ALLOWED” outside the door (think No Shoes No Service! Or better, GUARD DOG ON DUTY!)

So, in my paper organization efforts, I realized that you too, may be interested in changing up your home office, sewing/crafting room, or just taking notes for some ideas. Well, even if you aren’t, I at least know that Chloe is. So although my little sketch is specifically for a creative-type room, my set-up can also serve just as easily for a multi-purpose home office as well. You can enlarge the photo to see what I've got planned. But let's get into specifics.


For my own use, I realized I need my crafting/wrapping/sewing room to be multi-purpose. So for that reason, I really like this modular office system by Pottery Barn. Not only is it available in several finish options, but you can literally create it to fit your own personal needs and design ideas. Who wouldn' t love that? So putting my system in the corner with two longer desk areas on eash side will allow me three chairs. One area on the far left to keep my sewing machine set up, my computer area in the center (for my blogging, no doubt!), and the desk area on the right for my photography. All the file cabinets underneath supporting my work top, will be used for fabric storage, craft supply storage, photography proofs, etc., and there will be loads of wall storage. But you'll also notice that I've put a center island in the room too. This is to be at countertop height for standing, but will also have a few stools around for the mini's and myself (when they are invited in, that is!) to do some art projects together. But ideally, this will be my wrapping station. Don't tell me wrapping large gifts on the kitchen table doesn't bother you like it does me, so that's what this area is for.


But look, I realize this system from PB or even from Ballards can be a little pricey and might not be in everyone's price range. But you can still have this design and look if it's something you want. Just hop over to Home Depot or Lowe's, put up a few unfinished wooden doors. Yep, Doors! By painting, staining or finishing to your desired color, attach some decorative moulding along each edge to finish it off, and buy some nice wooden file cabinets to match (or paint to match). Place the finished doors on top of your file cabinets in the same way the Pottery Barn system would assemble, but make sure you place the hole (from teh door handle) towards the back for lamp and computer cords. Easy as that.



Let's say you don't have a whole lot of room though, and only have space for, say, a cabinet. Then keep on reading, because I stumbled upon this brilliant craft cabinet. You can convert an unused armoire or even pick up a new one at your unfinished furniture store like this, and convert it into a fabulous craft cabinet where everything is self contained. Brilliant, right? I love how every square inch of this cabinet is utilized from the inside of the doors to the very top of the cabinet. This is very do-able too. All it takes is a little thinking and brainstorming about what your specific needs are. Really take time to walk through the aisles of your local home improvement store or office supply store, picking up cork and hanging file folders and magnetic strips that you install on the inside of the cabinet.


I totally understand if you're happy with your current desk/worktop set up, and you're just looking for storage options. If it’s possible, consider skirting your desk and filing area. You can either sew a gathered or pleated skirt (like a bed skirt for your desk area) and then back it with Velcro to put it around your area, or even just use the electric stapler to gather a skirt around and hide your desk area and dress it up a bit, then using the hot glue gun, apply some fringe or trim).I promise nobody will be the wiser if you hide the staples and you can count on me to keep your secret. If you’ve got a cluttered desktop, get everything off the top. Sort it by type of product or its use. Stationery in one pile, blank paper and notepads in another, pens and pencils in another and so on and so on. Find cute boxes in solid colors to match your room décor and put your items in those boxes. Or if you’d like you can always revisit the decoupage idea and decoupage a box or two with leftover fabric to match your room as well. Go to your local home improvement store and pick up some inexpensive shelving. But don’t just look in the “Shelving” aisle. Go to the back where the lumber and moulding and trim is sold, and they also have pre-cut unfinished hardwood shelves and decorative brackets. Pick up what you need and paint or stain then, hang them on the wall and use that to keep your products-organized in their nifty baskets or boxes- off the desk area. When we originally bought our house, I wanted to have built-in’s put in the bonus room/play room. But then when we moved in and I started decorating, I decided I didn’t want to make the room seem smaller (even though this is a huge room as it’s over our 3 car garage), so I came up with this shelf system. Since my ceiling is angled, I off-set and staggered my shelves. These are just simple white wooden shelves which we picked up from Home Depot or Lowes (unfinished), and added some decorative wood brackets to them. I painted them all white, and bought a bunch of baskets. This can work for you as well, in a home office situation, particularly where you are trying to get things off your desktop and make it less cluttered.


As to how you should hang your shelves, Be creative! Open up a catalog or magazine and rip out pages of how designers and other people have arranged wall shelves.

Mel also mentioned Cavallini file folders a while back, and lucky for you, I found them discounted at Art Supplies Online (at a really fabulous price, people so stock up!). I think we can all agree that anything preppy on sale is a very good thing, and that certainly include these lovely little folders. Don’t forget you can also check out the large preppy and colorful assortment of file folders at See Jane Work (check out the Caspari Weave and Caspari Stripe patterned folders in particular). By now you should all be very familiar with this site because you’ve read about it here on my blog, but also over at the Preppy Princess’ old place. Bottom line, it’s a great shop with creative catchy little products and organizational ideas. You can purchase their products which are fab, or easily recreate some of their looks much less inexpensively. For instance, you can always pick up less expensive but still colored file folders at your local office supply store, such as Office Max and customize them yourself. Pick up some pretty scrapbooking paper, cut it to size, and print up and label the front of your files with a pretty font.




Also, Pottery Barn is having some pretty good sales right now. For instance, you can check out the Franklin Craft Center or Wall Mounted Craft Organizer. See this Ribbon Organizer? Sadly, so it’s no longer available (although check the outlet if you have one near you), but this would be VERY simple to make. And what I would do is hang it on the wall in lieu of keeping it on the desk. A few of these hung on the wall over your workspace, interspersed with some nice looking shelves and baskets or decorative boxes holding your desktop clutter, will also serve to add color and focus to your wall. You know, you can also pick up some decorative wall mounted paper towel holders to mount to the wall to hold your ribbon. Go to your local home improvement store or home discount store (Tj Max, Marshalls, HomeGoods) and pick up some decorative iron holders. To switch things up and make it a little more eye appealing, why not pick up matching Toilet paper holders? Obviously shorter in width than a paper towel holder, this can also be put into the mix for different sizes. Other holders to consider for your ribbon? Well a bathroom towel rack would work just as well, provided the bar is narrow enough for the ribbon. Designed to hold paper towels, bracket-mounted wooden dowels hang inside one door, skewering colorful spools of ribbon, string, jute, and cording you just unroll and snip to length.

Hopefully this should give you some good ideas for your own home office or crafting space. I know this was something a few of you were interested in and it's difficult to know everyone's exact needs. But sitting down and making a list of what you need to organize will really help you pull it all together. Good luck!

A Series of Unfortunate Events (& A Few Things I Love Today)

Friday, as it turned out, was not the greatest day. Mini #2 was not his usual chipper and cheery self that morning, and after returning home from taking his brother to pre-school that morning, he proceeded to throw up all over my Egyptian cotton Ralph Lauren bedding while watching Thomas the Tank Engine. Ughh.

So I changed the mini, stripped the bed, and had no other option other than throwing the comforter in the washing machine. I seriously didn't think it was that big of deal since I have a super capacity washer. Although the corner of the spread sticking out of the machine should have been a giant red flag to me, I just continued with my mission (anyone who's ever had to "clean up" curdled milk knows why I felt the instant need to forge ahead). Anyway, I closed the machine and crossed my fingers that it a) didn't overflow due to the fact that I decided to mix a cocktail in it with twice the amount of detergent, 300 mule borax laundry booster, Oxyclean and anything else I could find, and b) didn't go crashing through the floor into the kitchen below (it's on the 2nd floor of the house) due to the vigorous shaking of a machine that is overstuffed. You see, while yes, there is a "super heavy" setting on the machine, the setting I really could have used was one which should be called "idiot" setting.

So you can imagine, I was a tad scared to go into the laundry room when my entire brick house stopped shaking from this beast in my machine. Vomit be gone! Dry Clean only? HA! I'll show Ralph Lauren a thing or two! But lo, it would in fact, be monogram momma who was to learn a lesson that day. Because the minute I opened the machine, I saw it. The BIG FAT RIP through the fabric of my beautiful spread for which my entire bedroom is decorated around.

Uh Ohhhhhh.

Mr. Monogram is NOT going to like this at all.

Not

One.

Bit.

So I was in a teeny bit of trouble on Friday. So now I am not only redecorating mini #2's big boy room, I will now have to undertake redecorating my master bedroom as well. This is not something I had planned on and really looooooooooooove my bedding and linens so now I have to start all over.

So here is my issue. This is my master bedroom furniture here. It is heavily carved, massive, and quite formal. So that means, that I really need to put formal linens and drapes back in my room as well to go with the furniture. My walls are a gold color and there is no way Mr. Monogram is going to have them repainted because it's a tall vaulted ceiling in there. And I also want to try something new, and veer away from my normal red, gold, green color scheme. What's a girl to do?

I was thinking about this white Pottery Barn bedding with a chocolate border and a formal monogram in script. And then I wanted to pair it with more formal, really colorful, European shams and throw pillows w/ lots of fringe and trim. I found some beautiful things I loved over at my favorite spot, Horchow. But you know my friend Ashley? She thinks I'm going to regret doing a white duvet with a 90 lb dog and two little mini monograms running around. I am sort of thinking I might risk it though and have pretty throw on the bed too. What do you think? Is this all too casual for my furniture (you can click on the picture to see it larger)?

Anyway, since this has me pretty preoccupied, here are just a couple things I Love Today.

Monogrammed Custom barrettes from Happy Thoughts will leave you with many happy grosgrain thoughts!

Looking for a really cool yet simple birthday gift for a toddler? Then look no further than these Dado Cubes. INGENIOUS! Sure, kids love to build blocks, but talk about taking it to the next level with your creativity!

Scoot on over to Tabblo and for a bargain price of $1 each, you can upload your own pictures and personal Valentines message to how ever many recipients you wish (you can even create a special message for each valentine!). Worried about the turn-around time? Well don’t! They’ll also address and mail them directly to your recipient for you! Heck, it’s included in the $1 per card price! Now I guess there is no reason for out of town family and Friends not to hear from you next week, is there?

Tennis, Anyone?

Monogram momma has been most busy pulling mini monogram #2’s “big boy bedroom” together for him. This takes some time, as you can imagine. He’s been sleeping in his big black iron bed we bought him, complete with all his linens as well, but it’s all the other things I’ still pulling together. Oh you know, the artwork, chotchkies, bedskirts, window treatment, etc. So while I’m not ready to show off the finished product yet because, well, it just isn’t finished, I whipped up an uber preppy, non gender specific bed skirt that might just be the finishing touch you yourself are looking for.

Now don’t panic. Put away the brown paper bag you are hyperventilating into. This little home décor project is for both sewers and non sewers alike. If Sandra Lee could sew or craft (maybe she can? Who knows?) then really, this is something she would do in that semi-homemade way that she does. We are operating strictly off of shortcuts here so don’t worry. See? I told you not to panic.

You Will Need:
-dustruffle/bed skirt of your choice and size
-ribbon (I used 1” wide ribbon and used a little over an entire spool for a full sized bed skirt. Roughly 21 feet is what I ended up using)
-pins
-needle/thread, sewing machine, or fabric glue (read to make sure it will withhold a good run in the washing machine)

First things first. Before you work on any sewing project that will eventually require washing, it’s important to wash and dry it before getting started on your project. Why, you ask? Because you want to make sure it’s been pre-shrunk before getting started. Otherwise, there is a pretty good chance it won’t lay or fit right (this goes for clothing as well) because different materials wash and shrink differently. So once you’ve done that, I used my ironing board for my work surface in this instance.

Essentially, all you’re doing is pinning the ribbon along the entire base of the bed skirt. Now, I pinned my ribbon because I was going to run it up on my sewing machine. But if you’re using fabric glue, then you can probably glue it as you move along and skip the pinning part. Keeping up with me so far? Good. I told you this was a simple project!

So keep pinning the ribbon all the way around the base of the bed skirt until you get to the other end. Then it’s time to take it over to your machine and sew two seams (you can also hand stitch this too if you prefer). You want to sew the ribbon on each edge to ensure a nice clean look and help the ribbon to lay perfectly flat with no edges folding over. I hate to state the obvious, but do make sure your thread matches your ribbon perfectly so as to blend in without notice.

Once you’ve successfully fabric glued, hand or machine stitched the ribbon securely on the bedskirt, it’s time to move back over to the ironing board and really give it a nice clean press with a hot iron. Note that you’ll need to spend some extra time really getting a good press on the box pleats if you are working on a pleated skirt such as mine. When you’re done ironing, grab an extra set of hands to help you move the mattress and add it to your prefect preppy look. It’s SEW simple (ha!)!

I really love this simple ribbon embellished preppy dust ruffle. I think it’s perfectly age appropriate for mini #2’s “big boy bed” and will compliment his bedding to a “T”. What do you think? I love the timeless, clean look it provides and I also love that this would look great on any bed. Not just a toddlers bed. That pretty green stripe of ribbon against the bright white pleated bed skirt fabric makes me want to go throw on a Lacasote polo , a pair of monogrammed bloomers, and one of my old tennis skirts (HA! If only they even came CLOSE to still fitting, that is. *sigh*).

P.S. There is a link to the dust ruffle I bought under the "things you need" list. I found that Bed, Bath, & Beyond had a much better selection and better prices than Linens N Things. You can look at all the styles here though, as they've got some other really pretty and simple skirts that might fit your look better.

Resuscitating Your Home Decor (Post Christmas)

You’ll all be happy to know that aside from a few stray pine needles that the Hoover probably overlooked, all the Christmas garb is officially out of the house. Does anyone know why it seems to go up so easy and effortlessly but taking it all down and putting it away is anything but? Well, we’ll just chalk it up to one of life’s great mysteries.


But now that everything's gone, the house feels so empty and drab and un-cheery. Do you know what I mean? So the past few days I've been taking stock around here and figuring out what I can do to liven the house back up and bring back that warm festive feeling again. NO, I'm not going to go crazy and start leaving ornaments around here all year long, but it just means I need to incorporate a few changes to help liven up the family room and well, liven me bakc up as well now that the holiday's are over.

Pillow Toss You’d be surprised how you can really change the look and feel of a room by adding (and sometimes, subtracting) a few pillows. I’m doing this myself this week and yesterday, totally scored a gorgeous gold and brown silk dupioni long rectangular pillow for the center of the couch in the family room. The khaki chenille sofa was just calling this pillows name and I’m so excited by its perfect placement. I’m still hunting for pillows for my chairs in the same room, because that will really help me change my look a little more as well. And while you’re at it, pick up some large floor pillows. You know the ones I’m talking about. They can be large and boxy or soft and overstuffed (again on a large scale) and make a great addition to any room. The really invite people to sit down and break out the Scrabble game with you and stay a while.

Mantle Truthfully? I really stink at doing my mantle. I had it done once by someone and I’m too scared to change it so I just take the design from one home to another. This is such a difficult part of a room and you never want to junk it up with too much stuff and I am not one for picture frames on the mantle. But yes, you can help kick the look of your room up a notch by changing your mantle décor as well (at a few readers request, I will do a whole post on mantle décor on another day). Heck, even take a few of those overstuffed floor pillows I just mentioned and place a few on each side of the fireplace on the floor. Or get a beautiful oversized urn and place it on the hearth. No, technically it’s not decorating the mantle, but it is adding interest and change to the area that typically draws people too. I realized I needed to add a little interest to my mantle as well, so yesterday I purchased a new fireplace screen. And all I can say is the little bit of change must have worked because it’s the first thing Mr. Monogram commented on when he walked in the door last night (and he typically doesn’t pick up on any of the things I do around here).

Color One thing you might have been able to pick up about me, is that I really don't care for white barren walls in a house. It’s very stark to me, personally. If it’s your thing, then more power to you (no, I'm not judging). But if you are wanting to warm up and change the feel of a room, then that can be done easily and inexpensively with a gallon or two of paint. Most higher end paint stores (Benjamin Moore, Pratt & Lambert) will often keep a decorator on staff. So take a few sofa and pillow cushions and swatches of your other fabrics in the room with you, and ask their advice on helping you pick out that perfect color. After all, there is nothing worse than painting an entire room and then deciding you hate the color after all. *sigh*

Furniture Relocation This year at Christmas, I tried something new (and for this anti-change girl, that is saying a lot). I put my tree in a new spot in my family room and rearranged my furniture a little. And you know what? It was really great! And as a bonus I even lived through the whole change ordeal to tell about it. But don’t just wait for the holidays and the addition of an 8’ tree to force you to move the furniture around. Tell your significant other to strap on that his back brace and just start moving your furniture around until you find a new placement that suits you. The rearrangement might be exactly what your room needs to give it a fresh approach. I used to do this all the time early in our marriage and it really drove Mr. Monogram crazy. He’d come home from work and the furniture would be all over the place. But when you’re stuck in a decorating rut so to speak, giving the furniture new placement will help jolt you out of that rut and give you a new lease on your room.

Green Acres I realize we can’t all afford to have fresh flowers brought in our home (and professionally arranged) every single day as Oprah does, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find some really good faux plants and bushes and dried floral arrangements. If real houseplants aren’t your thing, it doesn’t mean you have to miss out on bringing some foliage and flowers inside to help brighten and liven up your home. With the absence of the Christmas tree now, the room starts to feel bare and let’s face it, unwelcoming. But adding a few houseplants will make a big difference. And no, I’m not suggesting you hang a fern from a macramé do-dad that your mother-in-law made for you. But hit up your garden center (or local craft shop w/ a large faux floral department) and try to find some unique and pretty low-maintenance indoor plants. The bigger the better! Pick up a Fichus tree and a few other container plants and put them in pretty urns. This works on bookshelves, stepstools, ottoman’s, and on the floor even under end tables. Play around with what you’ve got and you’ll be amazed at what a difference a little greenery can make in your room.

Built-Ins & Bookcases When we bought this house, it should be said that I had a lot of work done and changes made before we even moved in (okay, so technically, I have a problem with just buying a house and moving in because I have done this with every house we’ve bought so far. But that’s beside the point.). And one of the things I had done in this house, was that I had built-in’s custom designed and installed on each side of the mantle, covering the wall. Don’t worry. I’m not suggesting you go and do this unless you happen to have your Christmas money burning a hole in your pocket. But as important as the placement of these built-ins, is how everything is decorated on the actual shelves. My point? Don’t fall under the false illusion that bookshelves and built-ins are only for books. Looking at mine now, I’ve got some photo’s sporadically placed up there (in coordinating frames so they don’t distract), a few book ends that I love, a statue, some small votives in glass containers (all the same size and color and again, very very low and small), and even my ring bearer’s pillow from our wedding and my headpiece as well.

Speaking of my headpiece, after assembling this ginormous Hot Wheels structure this morning for the mini monograms (yes, in case you’re wondering a PHD in Toy Assembly is actually required for parenting because had I had this PHD I probably would not have taken the blow to the head with the large flying-yes, FLYING-pterodactyl thingie.), I’m feeling a bit like the queen of the hill, so what do you think? Should I wear it around town today? Hmmmm…..

Center Stage

If there’s one thing about my mother, she has always made a big to-do about setting the formal dining room. Even as a little girl, I can remember getting to help properly set the table with all the fine china, crystal and silver. What a treat to go pull everything ever so gently out of the large armoire in the entry way, listening to the bone china ding and rattle against each other as I carried the cups and saucers, one stacked inside another. Of course, by today’s standards it would be considered vintage given that they’ve been married 41 years, but I digress.

The table always looked beautiful with beautiful fine linens and napkins, place cards, and floral centerpieces. But it’s not just the centerpieces. Leave it to my mom to sporadically place other small accessories and decorative items along the table to as we sat and dined, there was always something to look at and see down the tablescape. I guess she was my first "Martha."

So really it should come as no small surprise, that I get a lot of joy in setting my own dining room. It just really brings me back to being a little girl in my Christmas finery, white tights and black patent leather mary-janes. And while I do no have the expansive 14’ table my parents do, I really enjoy setting my formal china, crystal and sterling at the holidays, and also coming up with creative centerpieces. Although I admit, mine never looks anything like my mom’s with the multiple fabrics and runners, ribbons, and flowers galore, but it’s it usually ends up being more than I end up having time for so it’s just fine for the Monograms.

Last year I was determined to be prepared with lots of great ideas for my table centerpieces this year, so I pulled some great ideas out of a "Christmas Ideas 2005" magazine (which I *think* was put out by MSLO). So I thought I'd share them in case you are hosting that final party or gather this weekend, or for Christmas Eve or Day, or even for New Years. Of course, you know monogram momma has your back so they are all simple and fresh ideas, that you can pull together in no time flat, but that will really sit center stage on your dining room table.



Cyndrilical Rose Arrangement I have picked up these glass cylinder vases for under $4 at my JoAnn's store, so I'm guessing you probably can too. Strip the rose stems of all thorns and leaves (saving the leaves), then cut each stem to the same length, which should be shorter than the height of the vase. Fill each vase inside with the roses, trying to make them stand up as straight as possible with on leaning. Then take your leaves and line them up around the outside of the vase, securing them with a rubber band, then topping that off (and hiding the rubber band) with a pretty red taffeta bow. Now THAT'S simple!



Coffee Bean Design If you've been hanging around me long enough, you already know that I love to decorate with natural things that I can easily pick up at the grocery, such as split peas, coffee beans, kumquats and cranberries. By sticking a smaller vase with your water and actual flowers inside the taller, large vase here, you can then pack the larger vase, surrounding the inner one, with coffee beans (to keep them dry). In shorter, smaller vases, just fill with coffee beans and place a votive inside. When the votive starts warming up, it will gently warm the coffee beans and exude that fresh coffee aroma.




Mint Julep There are so many things you can do with mint julep cups. Seriously. And although the hydrangea's (as shown here) are near impossible to find this time of year, you can still fill your mint julep cups, or small silver vases, with moss and minty green holiday balls for a festive table top look. How great would these look sporadically placed along a buffet table?







Rustic Holiday Table If you've got that more rustic or woodsy holiday look going for you, then I love this. This would look great even more casually on the kitchen table or island also. And I know we've all got extra greenery and tree branches at our disposal this time of year too. If you don't have any extra laying around your garage as I do, then run over to your local tree lot and they are usually happy to give the trimmings away for free to anyone who wants them. By placing them in a pretty red flower pot, including some burlap in the mix, a few red ornaments and pine cones, you've got yourself the perfect little pot.



White Christmas Artificial trees can pretty much be found anywhere right now. Heck I even saw small ones for sale at Walgreens Drug Store when I ran in there on Saturday to pick up a prescription. And this close to Christmas, everyone is practically giving them away too. So pop your head in, pick up a small one, spray paint it white, followed by a can of spray Snow, and you'll have yourself this lovely little white tree. They've used star ornaments here, and placed it in a very inexpensive aluminum tin that you can pick up in the paint department of your local home improvement store. And to create the look of snow in the bottom of the pail, pick up a large container of good old fashioned Epsom Rock Salt to add to that wintry, White Christmas look.



Rosemary I love these bushes. I love their shape, their smell, just everything about them is so wonderfully Christmassy to me. So dash on over to your local garden center and pick up two in whatever size you want (make it fit with the size of your dining room. For instance, if you're room is large with high ceilings, then get larger ones. But if it's on the smaller size with a low hanging chandelier, then pick up bushes on the smaller size), then place them in pretty decorative pots on the table. Add some festive ribbon and for little effort and cost, you've got a great statement.




Single Rose How simple is this? Well if you like a more streamlined and contemporary design, then place one single large bloom (either real or good quality faux) in a round vase. These vases are inexpensive in the floral section of the craft store. You can do several of these all the way down the center of your table at spaced intervals.




NOEL Who doesn't have extra candlesticks and ornaments hanging around this time of year? This is a simple and fast centerpiece but yet very eye catching, don't you think? It's a little casual for me, but this would also work on a mantle, sideboard, or sofa table and look very festive.








Low Lying Color Want something a little closer to the table and not hovering high above your head, obstucting your view from the person accross the table from you? Then this is just for you. If it were me, I'd use one of my elongated silver bread platters, lay down some festive greenery and leaves, then put some colorful Christmas balls on top for my low lying splash of color.







Wreath Who says it has to belong on the door? Run over to your local craft store and pick up a few wreaths and use them as centerpieces with candles in the center, or by placing your dishes in the center of the wreath. I love this idea for a buffet table, where you can put your caserole right in the center, while drawing attention to the dish with the greenery that surrounds it.




Wrap it Up You're already in the midst of wrapping, so why not wrap up a few extra packages and place them on the table for your centerpiece, or on teh buffet table. If you opt to use them on teh buffet table, then use lay the boxes so the bows are in the dront, and you can place dishes and napkins and food on top of the boxes, giving you all those levels and heights you know monogram momma is always so keen on doing.






Peppermint Sticks This is fun and kitschy but at the same time, sort of elegant. Either Glue or use a rubber band to affix the peppermint sticks to your glass vase, then wrap a ribbon around it, add a little florist foam inside and stick in all those beautiful roses to create that heaping festive mound.